"Thus it is said that one who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be endangered in a hundred engagements."
Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

War on Terrorism

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Success of Elections Shows Taliban Losing the Afghan People

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, May 22, 2014 – The Afghan
Taliban’s ability to reach a peace agreement with the government in Kabul will
continue to erode over time, especially after April’s elections in which
Afghans demonstrated they were not going to be intimidated by threats from the
militants to boycott the vote, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said
today.

“I don’t give military advice to the Taliban, but if I were
giving them advice, I’d tell them their negotiating position is not going to
improve, it’s going to erode,” Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said as he flew back
to Washington from NATO meetings in Brussels.

The chairman discussed Afghanistan and the way ahead there
with NATO and partner-country chiefs of defense today, and he was pleased with
what he has heard.

The Taliban issued their now yearly fighting season threat
earlier this month after the Afghan people voted in large number in provincial
and presidential elections April 5, in what Dempsey called a clear rejection of
the group.

Despite threats to Afghans who took part in the election,
“Seven million people chose to ignore the Taliban and that’s a huge statement
on the part of the Afghan people to the Taliban,” the chairman said in an
interview.

“If [the Taliban] are not experiencing a crisis of purpose,
they should be, because they haven’t been able to convince the people of
Afghanistan that their future should be with the Taliban and not with an
elected government,” he said.

The election was just the latest in a string of Afghan
successes by the country’s security forces. Afghan forces protected the loya
jirga last November where more than 2,500 local tribal and community leaders
again decried the Taliban, saying Afghans’ future is with democratic
principles.

A run-off election will be held June 14 between the two top
candidates who emerged from the April viote. Both former Foreign Minister
Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani have promised to
sign the bilateral security agreement with the United States and the Status of
Forces agreement with NATO, which would allow for a continued U.S. and
coalition military presence in the country after the current NATO mission ends
in December.

Once that happens, Dempsey said, “I would think the Taliban
would realize their opportunity to reconcile or reintegrate is a wasting
opportunity.” If they don’t take advantage of it now they will be in a weaker
position later.”

Dempsey described the Afghan security forces as emerging as
a capable force. “They can defend their centers of population, they can protect
their lines of communication,” he said. “In order to be completely capable
there are some things that had to continue to develop: their logistics system
and their ability to pay and house and feed and equip their force.”

That’s what U.S. and NATO advisors are working on now,
developing the capabilities at these higher levels like building campaign
plans, leader development and fusing intelligence and operations.

Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the NATO commander
in Afghanistan, briefed the chiefs of defense, and his principle point was as
the NATO footprint gets smaller in Afghanistan and the organization focuses on
building the institutions.

“So whether we end up with 10,000 or 15,000 or 5,000
[forces] it’s got to be the right kind of people,” Dempsey said. “If he needs
somebody to teach the Afghans how to do a defense budget, you don’t need an
infantryman, he needs someone to put a budget together.”